A) If a state agency or political subdivision is required by law or by an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (C) of this section to award a contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, a bidder on the contract shall be considered responsive if the bidder’s proposal responds to bid specifications in all material respects and contains no irregularities or deviations from the specifications which would affect the amount of the bid or otherwise give the bidder a competitive advantage.

(A) If a state agency or political subdivision is required by law or by an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (C) of this section to award a contract to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, a bidder on the contract shall be considered responsive if the bidder’s proposal responds to bid specifications in all material respects and contains no irregularities or deviations from the specifications which would affect the amount of the bid or otherwise give the bidder a competitive advantage. The factors that the state agency or political subdivision shall consider in determining whether a bidder on the contract is responsible include the experience of the bidder, the bidder’s financial condition, conduct and performance on previous contracts, facilities, management skills, and ability to execute the contract properly.

The Evaluation Team usually consists of the contract analyst from DAS who facilitates the consensus meeting and subject matter experts from agency. The team also may include outside consultants and other people with special expertise or with a particular interest in the outcome of the project, such as the agency’s clients or constituents.

(A) The department of administrative services shall establish contracts for supplies and services, including telephone, other telecommunications, and computer services, for the use of state agencies, and may establish such contracts for the use of any political subdivision as described in division (B) of section 125.04 of the Revised Code, except for the following:
(1) The adjutant general for military supplies and services;
(2) The general assembly;
(3) The judicial branch;
(4) State institutions of higher education;
(5) State elected officials as set forth in section 125.041 of the Revised Code;
(6) The capitol square review and advisory board.
The entities set forth in divisions (A)(l) to (6) of this section may request the department of administrative services’ assistance in the procurement of supplies and services for their respective offices and, upon the department’s approval, may participate in contracts awarded by the department.
(B) For purchases under division (C) of section 125.05 of the Revised Code, the department shall grant a state agency a release and permit to make the purchase if the department determines that it is not possible or advantageous for the department to make a purchase.
(C) Upon request, the department may grant a blanket release and permit to a state agency for specific purchases. The department may grant the blanket release and permit for a fiscal year or for a biennium as determined by the director of administrative services.
(D) The director of administrative services shall adopt rules regarding circumstances and criteria for obtaining a release and permit under this section. The director of administrative services shall prescribe uniform rules governing forms of specifications, advertisements for proposals, the opening of bids, the making of awards and contracts, and the purchase of supplies and performance of work.
(E) The director may enter into cooperative purchasing agreements to purchase supplies or services with the following:
(1) The entities set forth in divisions (A)(1) to (5) of this section;
(2) One or more other states;
(3) Groups of states;
(4) The United States or any department, division, or agency of the United States;
(5) Other purchasing consortia;
(6) The department of transportation; or
(7) Any political subdivision of this state described in division (B) of section 125.04 of the Revised Code.
(F) The United States or any department, division, or agency of the United States, one or more other states, groups of states, other purchasing consortia, or any agency, commission, or authority established under an interstate compact or agreement may purchase supplies and services from contracts established by the department of administrative services.
(G) Except as provided in section 125.04 of the Revised Code, the department of administrative services shall purchase any policy of insurance, including a surety or fidelity bond, covering officers or employees of a state agency, for which the annual premium is more than one thousand dollars and which the state may procure. The department shall purchase the insurance in conformity with sections 125.04 to 125.15 of the Revised Code. As used in this division, “annual premium” means the total premium for one year for one type of insurance regardless of the number of policies.

Once the ITB is completed and approved, it is advertised for approximately three weeks; however, DAS and the ordering agency may agree to advertise for a shorter or longer period.

(A) At a minimum, the invitation to bid by reverse auction (“ITB”) will contain the following information:
(1) Instructions and information to bidders concerning the submission of qualifications summaries, including the name and address of the agency, office, institution, board or commission requesting to purchase supplies and/or services;
(2) Instructions governing communications, including but not limited to instructions for submitting questions and posting answers electronically;
(3) A description of products, supplies and/or services to be purchased;
(4) Complete and detailed specifications pertaining to the products, supplies and/or services to be purchased which may include, among others, the quantity to be purchased, submission of samples, descriptive literature, technical data, or other material deemed necessary to properly evaluate the bid response.
(5) The factors and criteria to be used in evaluating qualification summaries and a description of the evaluation procedures to be followed for award of a contract;
(6) The contract terms and conditions including any requirement for acceptable financial assurances;
(7) The date, time and place for delivery of the qualifications summaries;
(8) The date and time of the reverse auction.
(B) The department shall post all invitations to bid by reverse auction on the department’s website or eProcurement solution. All invitations to bid by reverse auction shall state the date and time by which bidder qualifications summaries must be received by the department, and the date and time the summaries will be opened.
(C) Amendments to the ITB shall reference the portions of the ITB it changes and shall be posted on the department’s website or eProcurement solution. Amendments shall be posted within a reasonable time to allow prospective bidders to prepare bid responses. Amendments may extend the time and date that qualification summaries will be opened.
(D) The department shall consider the following upon receipt of a qualifications summary response:
(1) Upon receipt, each qualifications summary response shall be time and date stamped but not opened and shall be stored in a secure place until the time and date set for the opening of qualifications summaries.
(2) Qualifications summary responses shall be opened so as to avoid disclosure of contents to competing offerors. In order to ensure fair and impartial evaluation, qualifications summaries and related documents submitted in response to a reverse auction invitation to bid are not available for public inspection under section 149.43 of the Revised Code until after the award of the contract.
(3) All timely submitted qualifications summary responses shall be opened by the department at the time, date, and place designated in the ITB.
(4) To the extent the bidder designates trade secrets to be confidential, material so designated shall accompany the qualifications summary response and shall be readily separable from the qualifications summary response to facilitate public inspection of the non-confidential portion of the qualifications summary response. Any requests by a bidder for nondisclosure of trade secrets or assertions by the bidder that information in its qualifications summary is a trade secret shall be examined by the department to determine the validity of the request or assertion. Bidder requests or assertions must be in writing. If the department and bidder do not agree upon the information identified or asserted as a trade secret, the bidder shall be informed in writing by the department regarding what portions of the qualifications summary shall be disclosed. The bidder may withdraw its qualifications summary at any time prior to the completion of the auction event. The qualifications summary, shall be open to public inspection, excluding trade secrets agreed upon by the department and bidder, upon award of a contract.
(5) The signature of the bidder on the qualifications summary shall serve as the signature for the entire bid response. The qualifications summary shall include the names and contact information of the persons who will serve as the authorized representatives of the bidder during the auction event.
(E) Any qualifications summary response or modification received after the time and date set for receipt of responses is late, unless permitted or requested by the department. When deemed as late, a qualifications summary, response, or modification shall be marked as “late”, remain sealed and shall be retained in the bid file.
(F) Mistakes in invitations to bid by reverse auction.
(1) Correction or withdrawal of a bid response may be permitted due to an inadvertent mistake. If the mistake is attributable to an error in judgment, the bid response may not be corrected. Bid correction or withdrawal by reason of an inadvertent mistake is permissible but only if it does not affect the amount of the bid response or otherwise gives the bidder a competitive advantage.
(2) A bidder may correct mistakes discovered before the time and date set for the qualifications summary opening by withdrawing or correcting the qualifications summary.
(G) The department will use information from the qualifications summaries to register bidders for the auction event. The state reserves the right to exclude bidders who are deemed not responsive or not responsible.
(H) The department shall provide written notice to each bidder through electronic means regarding the bidder’s inclusion or exclusion from the qualified bidders list.
(I) The department or its agent shall work with the qualified bidders to prepare for the auction event. Preparation may include, but is not limited to: configuration of the auction computer system, testing of the bidder interface, delivery of the event documentation, and training.
(J) Auction event
(1) Only those bidders on the qualified bidders list will be allowed to participate in the auction event.
(2) The department or its agent will provide the necessary administrative support to ensure that the integrity of the auction event is not compromised.
(3) The department or its agent will keep an event record, which will include the prices offered by the bidders. The event record will become part of the contract documents and a public record at the conclusion of the event.
(4) The bidder interface will be configured such that a bidder will not know the identity of competing bidders until the event is complete.
(5) Bidders may submit multiple prices during the event. The lowest price offered will become the price portion of the bid response.
(6) Bids must be submitted by, or under the direction of, an authorized representative of the bidder as designated in the qualifications summary.
(7) The auction event will have a scheduled stop time. The event may be extended if bids are received within a predetermined amount of time prior to the scheduled stop time. Specific procedures on time extension shall be contained in the event qualification summary. The event will conclude at either the scheduled stop time or the time at which all extensions are completed, whichever is later.
(8) When the department knows or has reason to conclude that a bid is unreasonably lower than others that have been submitted, the department will ask the bidder to confirm the bid response.
(K) After the conclusion of the auction event, the state will award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.
(L) The department reserves the right to reject any and all qualifications summaries in whole or in part, cancel, and/or reissue the ITB when:
(1) Products, supplies, or services are not in compliance with the requirements, specifications, and terms and conditions set forth in the ITB; or
(2) Pricing offered is determined to be excessive in comparison with existing market conditions, or exceeds the available funds of the procuring entity; or
(3) It is determined that awarding of any or all items will not be in the best interest of the state.
(M) Notice of award shall be provided to the successful bidder. An apparent low bidder found not to be responsive and responsible shall be notified of that finding and the reasons for it pursuant to section 9.312 of the Revised Code. Notice of award shall be posted on the department’s website or eProcurement solution.